Father and Daughter
by Tomahawk41
Summary: Jaqulin Strife learns about her father, who left her when she was young, and learns that he's much closer than she thinks. Read and review, but please be kind!


Fog was all that could be seen for miles. The only thing that could be seen was the hands in front of her face. And more than anything, in this thick blanket of fog she was wandering around in, young Jaqulin Danee Strife was scared. She whipped her head left and right, her long, blondish hair following behind her, a look of fear on her young face. It wasn't long before her eyes saw what they were looking for; a tall man with spiky blonde hair, just like hers, clad in black and silver garments.

"Dad!" Jaqulin gasped as she ran towards the man, who we now know as her father, Cloud Strife. She ran as fast as her little legs could carry her, huffing and puffing and reacing for her dad. All the man could do was reach his hand out to her. But just as Jaqulin got closer, Cloud slowly began to fade away. Jaqulin quickened her steps to try and catch him before he dissappeared completely. She held her arms out to their sides, as if she was to fling herself onto Cloud...only to phase right through him, like a ghost. Cloud was gone. Jaqulin fell onto her knees and looked to where her father was. Tears filled her eyes as she turned around.

"No..." she whispered sadly, holding back her tears. "Where did you go? Why did you go? Don't leave me alone, Daddy...I'm...I'm scared." All of a sudden, the ground began to shake softly, then more and more violently. The ground split in two, and Jaqulin could only scream out as she fell into the deep chasm below...

...Only to yelp and find that she was in her bedroom.

Jaqulin looked around, shuddering like a leaf on a tree in the wind, holding her sheets close to her. She sighed, knowing that it was only a dream. But she still shook uncontrollably.

"Jaq?" came a voice from in front of her. The voice was coming from what looked like a stuffed blue anthropormatic hedgehog with green eyes, a tan face and belly, white gloves, and red and white shoes with yellow buckles on them. "You don't look so good. Are you okay?"

The little girl got up on her hands and knees and crawled over to the stuffed hedgehog. "Oh, Sonic," she whispered, hugging the hedgehog now known as Sonic tightly. "I had a bad dream."

"Was it the same one you've been having for a while?" Sonic asked.

"Uh huh," Jaqulin replied with a nod of her head.

"Wow, you sure have been dreaming that dream for a while now," Sonic said, scratching his head. "I oughta know, I've had my fair share of bad dreams, too!"

"Stuffed animals don't have bad dreams, silly!" Jaquling giggled cutely.

"Sure they do!" Sonic said in his defense. "But anyway, the best thing I always do whenever I have a bad dream is talk about it with one of your other toys. We toys can speak with each other, y'know."

Jaqulin looked around at her room that was filled with all kinds of toys. She pointed to a dinosaur-like doll that looked like a rocking horse and said, "What about Yoshi? Maybe he can help me out!"

"Nah, he doesn't really have much to say," Sonic said with a grin.

"Oh...what about Jack Sparrow?" Jaqulin asked again, pointing to an action figure of a pirate.

"He might be asleep right now," Sonic commented.

"Then who should I talk to?" Jaqulin asked.

"Well, there's always your mom," Sonic said. "Moms always help kids out with their bad dreams."

"Are ya sure she won't yell at me for being awake this late at night?" Jaqulin asked again.

"Positive," Sonic said. "In fact, lemme come with ya! I'll be here if you need my help."

Jaqulin gulped, but took Sonic in her arms and hopped out of bed. She slowly opened her door and crept down the stairs. Right around the corner, she could see her mother, Aerith, sitting by the fireside rocking back and forth in a rocking chair. She looked nervously at her mother, wanting to go back to her room and hide under the covers.

"Go on, it's okay," Sonic whispered. "I'll be right here for ya!"

It was then that Jaq slowly and timidly walked up to her mother. She then tugged on her mother's hand lightly.

"M-Mama?" Jaqulin said nervously.

Aerith turned around and gasped. "Jaqulin!" she said in shock. "Honey, what're you doing out of bed?"

"I...had a bad dream," Jaqulin said as she climed up onto her mother's lap with Sonic in tow. "And Sonic said you could help me with it."

Aerith smiled sweetly. "Well, I guess Sonic was right," she chuckled, patting Sonic on the head (who secretly got an annoyed look on his face from being treated like a dog). "So what was your dream all about?"

"Well..." Jaqulin started out, and went on to tell Aerith all about her dream. She explained how she saw Cloud in the fog, and how he dissappeared from her before she could get to him. Aerith's sweet smile then slowly changed to a look of worry.

"I knew this would happen," she muttered to herself. She then sighed heavily as she then said, "Jaqulin...you know your father, right?"

"Yeah?" Jaqulin replied.

"And you know that he always loved you..." Aerith began to say.

"Even when I was inside your tummy," Jaqulin finished as she poked Aerith's belly.

Aerith giggled slighlty at this. "Yes...yes, he did," Aerith said. "But, you see...well, you remember the day he left, right?"

"Uh-huh?" Jaqulin said, beginning to get a little nervous.

Aerith sighed deeply. "He said that he would be back," she said. "But...it's been over a year since he left, and..."

She was still very young, but Jaqulin understood what she was getting at. "He's not coming back?" she asked, tears brimming in her eyes.

Her mother was hesitant to speak. She only nodded slightly. Jaqulin couldn't help but cry softly. She buried her face in her mother's nightdress as she cried her heart out. Aerith patted her head softly as she cried, and Sonic couldn't help but hug her gently. It was a long while before Jaq started to calm down. She was still sniffling a little bit as she looked up into her mother's face with her big, innocent blue eyes.

"I...I wish he could come back," she whispered as she sobbed again.

"Shhh, it's okay, honey," Aerith whispered as she comforted her daughter. "I'm sure wherever he is now, he still loves you very much. In fact...he wanted me to give you this when the time was right." Aerith then reached over and grabbed a little box with elaborate designs on it.

"What's that?" Jaqulin asked as she wiped her tears away.

"A message," Aerith said as she opened the box slowly. When the box was all the way open, the same man from Cloud's dream appeared in a holographic light.

"Jaqulin...my daughter," the Cloud hologram started out. "I may not see you for a long, long time. But, I want you to know...I'll always watch you, right here." He pointed to his heart as he said this. "And there will NEVER be a father who loves his daughter more than I love you." All of a sudden, music began to play as memories from Jaqulin's past with her dad flashed by in time with a song.

Voice: **If you, leap awake,**

**In the mirror of a bad, dream...**

(Cloud comforted Jaqulin at her bedside after she woke up from a nightmare)

**And for a fraction, of a second,**

**You can't remember where you are...**

(Jaqulin held her dad's hand as she looked around a new place in wonderment)

**Just open your window...**

**And follow your memory up-stream...**

(Cloud taught Jaqulin how to skip stones across a river)

**To the meadow in the mountain,**

**Where we counted ev'ry falling star...**

(The father/daughter duo sat in a meadow as they watched the sky)

**I believe the light that shines on you,**

**Will shine on you, forever...**

(Cloud spun his daughter in the air as she laughed happily)

**And though I can't guarentee,**

**There's nothing scary hiding under your bed...**

(Cloud looked under Jaq's bed as the scared little girl peeked over her bed timidly)

**I'm gonna,**

**Stand guard,**

**Like a postcard of a golden retriever...**

(Cloud laughed as Jaqulin played with a golden retriever)

**And never leave,**

**'Til I leave you,**

**With a sweet dream...in your head...**

(Cloud tucked his daughter into bed and kissed her on the cheek)

**I'm gonna watch you shine...**

**Gonna watch you grow...**

**Gonna paint a sign...**

**So you'll always know...**

**As long as, one and one, is two...**

**There could never be a father who loves his daughter,**

**More than I, love you...**

(Jaqulin rode on her dad's shoulders with a smile on her face)

**Trust your intuition...**

**It's just like goin' fishin'...**

**You cast your line, and...  
Hope you get a bite...**

(The duo sat on the side of a lake and cast their lines into the water)

**But you don't need to waste your time...**

**Worryin' 'bout the market place...**

**Tryin' to help the human race...**

**Struggling, to survive,**

**It's harshest night...**

**I'm gonna watch you shine...**

**Gonna watch you grow...**

**Gonna paint a sign...**

**So you'll always know...**

**As long as, one and one, is two...**

**There could never be a father who loves his daughter,**

**More than I, love you...**

(Jaqulin and Cloud ran together through a meadow full of flowers. Then Cloud caught his little girl and started tickling her tummy as Jaqulin frantically tried to get away. But Cloud eventually started blowing raspberries on her, making her laugh even harder. Then, the two laid down in the field, with smiles on their faces.)

**I'm gonna watch you shine...**

**Gonna watch you grow...**

**Gonna paint a sign...**

**So you'll always know...**

**As long as, one and one, is two...**

**There will never be a father who loves his daughter,**

**More than I, love you...**

As the music ended, the last image was of a young Jaqulin kissing her father on the cheek. Then the image dissappeared in a puff of sparking dust. Jaqulin smiled as a tear formed in her eye.

"So even if he's not here...he's in my heart?" Jaqulin asked.

"That's what he said," Aerith replied. "He'll ALWAYS be in your heart. And I will, too." Aerith then kissed her young daughter on the cheek. "Now, you and Sonic go on back to sleep. And no more bad dreams."

"Okay, Mama," Jaqulin said as she slid off her mother's lap, hugging Sonic tightly. "Nighty night!" Jaqulin then went back up the stairs and into her room.

"See? I knew she'd help ya out!" Sonic said with a smile.

"Yup," Jaqulin said as she clambered into bed. "Thanks, Sonic." She hugged her stuffed hedgehog friend gently as the two of them went back to sleep, with Jaqulin knowing that, no matter where her father was, there would never be someone who loved her as much as he did.

THE END

Voice Cast:  
Amy Birnbaum as Jaqulin

Jason Griffith as Sonic

Mena Suvari as Aerith

Steve Burton as Cloud Strife

"Father and Daughter" by Paul Simon


End file.
